This has to be one of the most chilling and disturbing ideas I have seen yet involving young people in the new era of "homeland security"....namely because it appears intent on inculcating the 'toughest' 'inner-city' youth into a statist "security" mindset.

If I had my druthers, words like "homeland" (e.g. "fatherland", "mother Russia") would be banned from any governmental lexicon in our CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC.

The very idea of a massive central government agency supposedly to "secure" the so-called homeland, in truth a massive domestic security apparatus to control the citizenry, has been one of the worst and certainly most wasteful developments in our nation's history.

“This is a law and order education for the students”

Now would-be do-gooders are looking to mold young developing minds to perpetuate what I believe to be an un-American mindset.

Rather than a public service ethic of supporting, protecting, and defending our Constitution and the liberties it embodies, we would instead exploit underprivileged or challenged young people in order to stock and proliferate some future security apparatus for 'the homeland'.

It is obvious that some people are quite stuck in retarded mode, in the same frenzy of fear, militarism, and exploitation that we saw rise in the wake of September 11, 2001.

"Building Homeland Security One Student at a Time"

What we see with this "Homeland Security High School" is an attempt to turn poor urban youth into loyal little troopers, cops, prison guards, spies, or whatever use for which they can be programmed to serve a central security state.

I say nuts to this. Every child should receive a well-rounded education offering them a chance to pursue any career path their desire and talent open to them.

To cubbyhole 13-year old children into life paths as tools for government agencies is just reprehensible.

It is a nauseating disgrace to the very idea of education, which should be far more than merely the training of tasks or the molding of minds to pre-set notions of how the world should be.

"The school aims to teach students to become policemen, firemen, intelligence agents, soldiers, airport or port security personnel – anything that falls within the purview of homeland security, Little said."

Behind all this is a former 2-term state legislator called Tom Little.

[In the linked article Little openly admits to having married, at age 62, a 17-year old girl when he lived in Africa for over a decade. How this stunning admission raises no red flags about a person trying to insinuate himself into the education of teens is beyond me.]

"We’re developing a new culture for young children called the culture of honor. We serve a cause, not a paycheck.", says Little.

What does this really mean? A "culture of honor"?? For teenagers?? Serving a "cause, not a paycheck"?

Has a rather national socialist ring to it...

I am sure Reichsfuhrer Himmler had similar words when he and Adolf Hitler corralled impressionable youth, gave them fancy uniforms, regimented all their activities military-style, and stamped on them a groupthink 'culture' of unquestioning loyalty to authority.

The brown shirts were nothing but gangs of street-wise thugs that Hitler diverted to more "useful" activities, molding them into his unthinking "security" apparatus.

Some of the mentioned career tracks for the little homeland troopers :

Professional law enforcement and other armed and unarmed security – including SWAT team skills

Correctional officers

Water safety experts

Air safety – including helicopter repelling

Medical first responder aid and emergency crews

911 Operator skills

Operating engineers and professional defensive driving skills

Forensic and investigative skills

[NOTE : the correct term in bullet 4 should be "rappelling" not "repelling". The incorrect spelling is how it appears on the Homeland High website (I guess English is less important than Arabic, Chinese, and Spanish.) Having served in an air-assault-capable active duty Army Infantry battalion, I can attest that helicopter rappelling is quite a different thing from "repelling" a helicopter.]

So we have what are presumably "at-risk" teenagers....children....to be trained for duty as prison guards, SWAT, and other assorted armed (and of course "unarmed") so-called "first responders" (notice the Orwellian terminology to soften the reality of this abomination).

Why put tasks of such responsibility and authority into the hands of higher-educated adult professionals, with real life experience, when you can brainwash high school kids into a "culture of honor"??

Little goes on to say : "When they graduate they’ll have a job. They’ll be in better shape than Marines and speak conversational Spanish, Arabic and Chinese."

It appears even the pretense of higher education is pretty much out the window. They want to put these poor kids right to work in the bowels of an ever-burgeoning security state, on the idea of saving them from their troubled circumstances.

I guess we can all be thrilled to know our firemen, cops, SWAT teams, and 911 operators will be able to speak "conversational" Mandarin or Farsi.

How sad that inner-city predominantly-minority children are to be used as experimentation subjects, consigned to limited barrack education as cogs in the "safety and security" complex.

I can imagine the ethos underlying all this, such as : hell, maybe if we make them prison guards we won't have to lock them up.

44 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Oh my God! I can not believe that looney has any support for this. Who is supporting this concept? Those of us who read Littles book on his time in Africa, wondered about his sanity. I know a woman whom this man told he had actually "eaten a womans uterus in Africa". Those of us who have had to deal with him on political issues, listen to him on the radio, know he is operating without a full deck. Every city, county, state official must immediately stop this project.

This from a man who claims that eating placenta is a sure cure for AIDS from a sceance with Albert Einstein (out of his field), Dr. Fisher (19th C) formerly of the Royal Academy of Medicine, Edgar Cayce and a cast of supporting characters in his autobiography: "American Warriors, Goin' for Gold". (Google search it and see for yourself.)

Let me beg to differ a tad in that I think you may be overreacting a tad, Tyler (especially with the hyperbole).

How substantively different is this than, say, DMA as a charter school? Most of the career paths are worthwhile: Firemen? Police officer and/or other law enforcement? Forensics and investigations?

Granted, I'll give you that the school slogan and Little's background are creepy (62 vs. 17?? Eww!), but given Little's Marine background (that part isn't creepy) I think he knows a bit about honor (as would you, Tyler, being ex-military). As such, I think that's just the Marine in him speaking, not a sinister hidden agenda coming to the fore. That, and consider his target students: inner city youth, some (most?) of whom have troubled backgrounds. Honor might be something quite worthwhile in their lives since one its caveats, self-respect, is sure important.

I do doubt that the jobs Little speaks of will be all that terrific straight out of HS (or, as Tyler say, "the bowels"); more training and hopefully some college will help any graduates get better employment. I also (sincerely) doubt that this school's grads will be "in better shape" than Marines(!!) and that they'll have conversational foreign language ability. Some may, if they take four consecutive years of a language, but I'd bet that'll be only the very best FL students.

"Honor might be something quite worthwhile in their lives since one its caveats, self-respect, is sure important."

One last thing...I agree troubled youth need self-respect but that is not necessarily "honor".

One thing I have learned in my life...honor cannot be taught.

Some of the dictionary analogs used are : "reputation", "privilege", "recognition", "credit", "homage", "reverence", "deference".

Any school's primary culture should be education, not "honor", which is clearly a word if not a concept I have found more often hijacked for use by those who have none...or those who thirst for undue recognition or deference based on some self-delusional myth of their standing.

Tyler: I can see where you're coming from. If this Little is as offbeat as advertised, as much as a I respect military men, I'd be worried right there. And I can agree that such a charter can be better structured based on what you state.

This man is a loon. I know a woman to whom he said, "he had eaten a uterus of a woman" in Africa. Reading excerpts from his book any psychiatrist would deem him certfiable. And this is someone Charles Copeland stands behind. Bet ole Charlie never read this lunatics own words. Its sick, he's sick! And old man marrying a child (16-17) and he at 62, would be considered child molestor. When he left Africa what happened to his "child bride". This man shouldnt be around ANY children, let alone with children with "problems" and easily influenced. Was this guy CIA?

The mission and training of military and civil police forces isintrinsically different, the latter having more constitutional, physical and legal contraint.The line must not be crossed as the hybrid is a permanent (political) paramilitary police state security apparatus; itself antithetical to Liberty and Independance -- a veritable "Shadow Over the Land".

is it true that Charlie Copeland is backing this lunatic, thats what I want to know. Also heard Margaret Rose Henry is as well. Just goes to show these morons did not "vetting" of this man or read his book. Do you think he gave a copy of his book to Valerie Woodruff, while she and the Board of Ed were considering this Hitler Youth proposal.

There was nothing I read about the dude's marriage being illegal. Still don't make it right. The 45 year age difference is fucked up enough especially if he was in a poor African country. A teenager is still a teenager just like a dirty old man is just a dirty old man. This guy sounds like a world class scumbag.

Someone sent John Watson at WILM, 1450Am a copy of this. He wants to talk about it on air starting at 9:00am...wednesday morning. If you believe this is wrong headed, wrong for our troubled children, please call in: 302 395 9456.

If you feel strongly, as most of us do who have read all the material, CALL IN, dont just sit there and anonymously blog about it.this is tooooo serious.

Just a little correction from the resident German blogger - it'sMeine Ehre heisst Treue (the letter that looks like a B is actually an "SZ", a sharp "S" sound that is, when written on non-german typewriters is a double s.

Update: someone must have contacted Watson. He is now NOT going to do this topic tomorrow, says he wants to interview them first..ahahahah! Thats okay, when they come on the air, we will be ready for them. Meantime, I have calls into the feds...Education Dept, to determine what regulations they would be violating. Notice Little claims this "program" is for INNER city kids, but all the white kids in every photograph look like kids from Nebraska. Will bet none of the supporters know about the book, or whether the "program" fits the educational requirements.

Tyler Nixon said.. my German is quite rusty (I was stationed in Berlin from 91-93).

I know - we have met before up at the GOP HQ. I was Brady's campaign manager (even though I am a Dem). Which reminds me, have you seen http://www.berlinbrigade.com/ ?I just went to he Army Navy Store in Dover and bought my son a Berlin Brigade Patch.

Though I lack the education, it appears, the previous commenter’s have, I would like to make a few comments of my own.

To start; Law Enforcement i.e. Police, Sheriff’s, Corrections etc. are Paramilitary Organizations (Para; like or resembling). We have a Rank System, SOP’s, Regulations and a Chain of Command. Militarization of Law Enforcement is already a practice.

No one has stated if this “school” is going to be private; requiring applications to attend and tuition? Will it be a sentence, passed by the courts for problematic children? Will it be public; where those in the area have no choice but to attend? As with any “hot topic” where are the facts? Does anyone have all the information needed to discuss this topic intelligently and objectively? Since I have children in the Delaware Education System, I have a great deal of confidence in their ability to ensure the education of our children; as long as they have the support and dedication of the parents. (Now there is a very real problem; Teachers w/o Parental support)

I’ve met TL. I used to live in the same apartment building and knew him prior to his move to Africa. I have a signed copy of his book Goin’ for Gold. I kept it for the same reason people rubberneck accident victims; it’s gross factor. What he wrote to me has the same basic effect; it’s slimy. Anyone who spends more than 15 minutes speaking with him would know he’s a kook and couldn’t pull this off even if he was awarded unlimited funding. He’s screwed up too many times, in public, since his return to the area.

Have a little faith in the system. Gather the facts. Support what you believe but remember our children. This isn’t about YOU, it’s about them.

Thanks for coming by and making some thoughtful observations, Steel (love your handle!).

I agree that law enforcement agencies have chain of command, rank structure, SOP's etc. But I don't consider that militarization.

To me, militarization involves using military weaponry, equipment (like APC's), uniforms (fatigues, face masks), and tactics (such as raids/assaults on dwellings), amongst other things. We see it most prevalently in the so-called war on drugs, for example.

Basically what I mean is not the internal operations or organization of law enforcement agencies but rather how they present and conduct themselves as well as operate in public and in executing their powers.

The purpose of the military is to impliment foreign policy in time of war or conflict. War, according to von Clauzewitz, is "the continuation of foreign policy by other means." (when diplomacy and power politics fail)

In contrast, the purpose of police agencies is domestic civil law enforcement. This critical function is by its very nature subject to much great legal and constraits and must operate with laser-like precision as its of doctrine of application of force for public safety is necessarily limited by its very nature in a free society. The balance is a delicate one.

WolfA minor correction. You say, The purpose of the military is to impliment foreign policy in time of war or conflict. War, according to von Clauzewitz, is "the continuation of foreign policy by other means." (when diplomacy and power politics fail)

In reality, Clausewitz and the Europeans saw war as a legitimate tool of policy and not an indication of the failure of policy. In the US, prior to the Cold War, we worked from the Madisonian construct that war represents the failure of policy and a last resort (unless you are actually under attack).

My point: your mixing of Clausewitz with Madison is a strong indicator of just how far the war-making, interventionist State has taken us....

T. N., Thank you for the compliment. My handle is a nickname. “To me, militarization involves using military weaponry, equipment (like APC's), uniforms (fatigues, face masks), and tactics (such as raids/assaults on dwellings), amongst other things. We see it most prevalently in the so-called war on drugs, for example.

Basically what I mean is not the internal operations or organization of law enforcement agencies but rather how they present and conduct themselves as well as operate in public and in executing their power.”

LE has SWAT/CERT etc. We wear uniforms, helmets with face masks, Kevlar jackets and vests for certain emergencies, some larger cities have APC’s, raids/assaults on dwellings is quite common. Our weaponry is similar; just on a smaller scale. (No; we don’t have rocket launchers, howitzers, subs, jets or Aircraft carriers) We do have boats, helicopters, heat-seeking technology, ROVs, Bomb Squads) the only real difference between the Military and LE is they can operate outside the US as well as inside for certain emergencies. LE operates in the US only. That is why we are “Paramilitary”. We are responsible for local security. LE is for security of town, county and state levels; whereas the Military is for Security of the entire Country regardless of where they are fighting. The CIA, FBI, HS, BTF etc are all LE agencies though they are federal. You sign up/join the Military and must serve out the term you agreed to and it is a lifelong career for some. LE is a choice of career that you can quit anytime you choose to. As you can see, the differences between the two are not many. Concerning the School to train children in LE techniques, that is not a good idea. It sounds like the people pushing this want to build a better criminal. In my opinion, and I have many, most of the problems children have today is because their parents no longer make them a priority. If you send a child to a school that teaches them LE techniques, but don’t have the parental support to enforce proper behavior outside of school, all you are doing is teaching a future adult how to get away with more crimes. They will know what needs to be done to prevent identification and capture. Since I was a child, more than 25 years ago to the present I have noticed many changes in our society that have caused the problems we are now having with our youth. For example: ADHD. When I was young this alleged problem didn’t exist. When a child was bad; the child was punished. When a child became an adult; they put away childish things. They were made to accept responsibility for their actions. I was an abused child; I choose to do the right thing and not pass on that behavior to my children. Most people in my age bracket accept responsibility for their behavior. The generation that follows mine is/have being/been raised with the bad habit of blaming everyone and everything else for their behavior. Whether it is an alleged mental/learning problem, abuse, TV, music etc. the point is; People don’t want to take responsibility, not even for their own actions. Everyone reaches an age when they know what is right and what is wrong. Up to the age of reason it is the parents fault for their child’s inappropriate behavior. Once a child reaches adulthood; they are responsible.

It’s really hard to get off this soap box once I step up…Please forgive my diatribe. Be Well & Safe…..

Good point, but I meant failure to achieve the desired ends, not failure of policy per se. International tensions and rhetorical saber rattling usually would precede actual hostilities with the initiator of the conflict first constructing a suitable pretext for action. The term "balance of power" was actually coined by von Leibnitz (father of integral calculus) in the 17th Century. He was also interested in statecraft.To the best of my knowledge, our use of the term "power politics" originates from the German term "Machtpolitik".

Hi nice Blog.A hypnotic procedure is used to encourage and evaluate responses to suggestions. self hypnosis mp3 When using hypnosis, one person is guided by another to respond to suggestions for changes in subjective experience.